Ideas

Plugin size should be mentioned

Plugin size should be mentioned in plugin search results under dashboard. It will be helpful. Suppose I need a plugin under 5mb. Then I can easily find-out that. Don't need to explore all plugins one by one. It will be more helpful if "sort by size" added like "Search Results" "Featured" "Popular" "Recommended" "Favorites" "Premium"

less bloated (potentially) (and that questionable speed factor you mention may be a consideration here too).

The problem is ... what are you basing that on?

What if the larger one is bigger because it takes into consideration more use-cases, or made a robust interface so the features could be used with a UX and not filters and configs you have to manually define?

Also it's a straw man argument to say the smaller would be 2MB to a larger 40MB. The reality is that you;d get a 5mb to a 7mb plugin, or possibly a 10mb. Most plugins are well under 40mb. In fact, you can't even submit one over 30 (and the ones that are that large tend to be media based ones).

What if the larger one is bigger because it takes into consideration more use-cases, or made a robust interface so the features could be used with a UX and not filters and configs you have to manually define?

Why not let the user decide then? I'm with LWD here.

Not every webmaster has access to a "unlimited" hosting plan and I think I'd personally check the features of a plugin in more detail if it was a lot larger than similar alternatives.

Yes, I also think plugins size should also be mentioned in the plugin dashboard.
Though when we require a particular plugin we go for options right?
Selecting the right plugin with Less MBs would surely reduce the Higher Ping Rates on the servers.